Why can't I do my banking online via PC?

YBR

eskbanker said:

YBR said:

I feel my PC is physically more secure than the phone I carry around, it's equally well password protected. Also that it's better for my mental health to only access my finances when I'm in the right place, and better for combating fraud to not have the option to be hassled into transactions ASAP wherever and whenever. Plus I don't like to do everything on a tiny screen.

That's the sum of my whinge!

What does the bolded wording mean, i.e. who is (likely to be) hassling you to conduct "transactions ASAP wherever and whenever"?

It's one prime part of scams that they don't give you time to give a second thought. Not having a banking app on me when some scammer targets me is a method of self-protection.

born_again

YBR said:

eskbanker said:

YBR said:

I feel my PC is physically more secure than the phone I carry around, it's equally well password protected. Also that it's better for my mental health to only access my finances when I'm in the right place, and better for combating fraud to not have the option to be hassled into transactions ASAP wherever and whenever. Plus I don't like to do everything on a tiny screen.

That's the sum of my whinge!

What does the bolded wording mean, i.e. who is (likely to be) hassling you to conduct "transactions ASAP wherever and whenever"?

It's one prime part of scams that they don't give you time to give a second thought. Not having a banking app on me when some scammer targets me is a method of self-protection.

That's why you end the call if being pressured... Remember the red button is in your control 👍

Or even better if busy do not answer phone. If it's legit then they will leave a message.

Eco_Miser

dealyboy said:

On the broad point I agree with you YBR and thank you for expressing a view I was too frightened to express myself.

Now that I have plucked up the courage ... I love my laptop and I hate smartphones and apps, there!

I do understand that inherently they are more secure and I do have a dozen or so banking apps, I just wish that everytime I hold the phone it wouldn't think I wanted it to go somewhere completely different through screen or edge buttons and I could type rather than prod my way through.

My excuse is I'm an OAP and I'm supposed to be beyond my Best Before Date   

I'm an OAP too, and don't use a smartphone at all. I have a proper little desktop computer, with a nice big screen and wireless keyboard, and a mouse to navigate with. I've tried a smartphone, and if the letters are big enough to read comfortably, the sentences are too big to read without scrolling, and hitting the right 'keys' on the virtual keyboard is very difficult, given the size of my hands and fingers. Using a stylus is better, but it's no longer typing, it's jabbing with a stick.

It's not a matter of security, but of usability.

drphila

Can you not install an Android emulator on your pc ( eg Bluestacks)? Or will the banks' security systems block access?

YBR

drphila said:

Can you not install an Android emulator on your pc ( eg Bluestacks)? Or will the banks' security systems block access?

I hadn't heard there were such things. It's a work-around worth investigating (wishing I didn't need one but still ...). Thanks.

wmb194

YBR said:

drphila said:

Can you not install an Android emulator on your pc ( eg Bluestacks)? Or will the banks' security systems block access?

I hadn't heard there were such things. It's a work-around worth investigating (wishing I didn't need one but still ...). Thanks.

Probably won’t work as most banks try to detect and block them. They also try to detect and block remote phone streaming to a PC desktop e.g., Windows' Phone Link and MacOS's iPhone Mirroring.

https://www.cryptomathic.com/blog/securing-mobile-banking-apps-in-2025-stay-ahead-of-emulator-attacks

UKX69

YBR said:

I have current. savings and credit card accounts with a few different banks etc. which I manage online via my computer. Recently I'm finding a range of niggly things I can't do any more, I have to use a mobile app.

Today Halifax has really annoyed me with "can't do it online?" and I have to phone them - I could do it online if I were given the option but for "online" they actually mean by app only. 

(The other day it was another bank making it default to authenticate via the app and difficult to use a passcode and recently issues with changing address or title). I don't want to phone and face long waits and multiple layers of press this number and having to say things several times because their AI can't understand unusual words/names. Because I DO bank online but they are withdrawing services from that platform.

I feel my PC is physically more secure than the phone I carry around, it's equally well password protected. Also that it's better for my mental health to only access my finances when I'm in the right place, and better for combating fraud to not have the option to be hassled into transactions ASAP wherever and whenever. Plus I don't like to do everything on a tiny screen.

That's the sum of my whinge!

The questions are why are the banks making this difficult? and am I the only one?

Yes, I agree that banks are making it - not necessarily difficult, but awkward - in their  method of banking. I have come across a number of banks who invite you to open a current account with them, only to be guided to their app to continue the process. At least with Lloyds & Halifax it can be done online on a desktop. As YBR, I much prefer to do my banking online my desktop and avoid any institution that has app only access if at all possible - hence I will not be taking advantage of Zopa 7.1% savings.

born_again

App's & PC banking work on different systems. Due to the nature of how each are programed.

So if you want to query a transaction on Credit Card. 
Simply pick up a phone & call them.

Chief_of_Staffy

There are only two reasons banks implement policy; a) for their own interests and b) because they're forced to by legislation. They are not interested in what's best of the customer unless that feeds into a).

Banks are moving towards apps because they're generally cheaper and quicker to develop and maintain. Also, it's obviously cheaper to maintain one means of access as opposed to two, so they are increasingly choosing apps. Apps give them the ability to harvest more of your data (biometrics, location, etc.) which even if of no use to them directly make for lucrative partnerships with security companies (an oxymoron if ever there was one).

On that topic, the notion smartphones are inherently more secure than desktops is misleading. If you're someone who falls victim to phishing attacks, failed to implement AV on their PC and opens any old attachment that might arrive in their mailbox then apps are generally speaking more secure. For now, as that will certainly change. For those of us who don't do these things, they might well not be. When I use my desktop to log into my bank I don't need to worry about it being snatched out of my hand as I'm making a transaction by a masked ratbag on a peddle bike, or a stranger sitting behind me in my office looking over my shoulder - or more pertinently taking a photo with their smartphone of - all the details on my screen.

friolento

UKX69 said:

YBR said:

I have current. savings and credit card accounts with a few different banks etc. which I manage online via my computer. Recently I'm finding a range of niggly things I can't do any more, I have to use a mobile app.

Today Halifax has really annoyed me with "can't do it online?" and I have to phone them - I could do it online if I were given the option but for "online" they actually mean by app only. 

(The other day it was another bank making it default to authenticate via the app and difficult to use a passcode and recently issues with changing address or title). I don't want to phone and face long waits and multiple layers of press this number and having to say things several times because their AI can't understand unusual words/names. Because I DO bank online but they are withdrawing services from that platform.

I feel my PC is physically more secure than the phone I carry around, it's equally well password protected. Also that it's better for my mental health to only access my finances when I'm in the right place, and better for combating fraud to not have the option to be hassled into transactions ASAP wherever and whenever. Plus I don't like to do everything on a tiny screen.

That's the sum of my whinge!

The questions are why are the banks making this difficult? and am I the only one?

Yes, I agree that banks are making it - not necessarily difficult, but awkward - in their  method of banking. I have come across a number of banks who invite you to open a current account with them, only to be guided to their app to continue the process. At least with Lloyds & Halifax it can be done online on a desktop. As YBR, I much prefer to do my banking online my desktop and avoid any institution that has app only access if at all possible - hence I will not be taking advantage of Zopa 7.1% savings.

I am also one of the oldies, and I absolutely love apps. I have several dozen of them as I like to spread my cash around accounts which pay me good interest. I don't like providers who don't have an app. Though I would never pass on a 7.1% or other top rate Regular Saver for technology reasons, and many of my Regular Saver accounts are online only. I do draw a line on Branch-only accounts - there's no way I will travel miles and miles to open a savings account, particularly not if they expect me to make an appointment for it.